May 26, 1999

CNN.com

(IDG) — One of the first things you learn when planning a wedding is that there’s an entire industry dedicated to selling products and services to would-be brides and grooms. This industry is essentially invisible to you until you get engaged; then it comes crashing down like a 500-foot tsunami.

My fiancée and I are getting married in about three weeks, and like any self-respecting wired couple of the ’90s, we used the Internet to help plan the big event. It’s no surprise that the wedding industry has migrated in force to the online world. The Web is crawling with thousands of companies trying to sell everything from party favors to honeymoon packages. And several full-service wedding planning sites address the roughly seven billion questions, details, and obstacles that arise during wedding planning. Read the rest of this entry »